Bible Together in Groups
Bible Together: Gathering Guide
At City Lights, we believe that renewal starts from within and expands into every area of our lives. The regular and patient practice of reading the Bible will connect you to God and renew you from the inside out. For thousands of years Christians have read and discussed scripture in community.
A Bible Together gathering is a simple, structured way of reading the Bible with others so they can encounter God personally. You don't need to be an expert to start reading the Bible. You can do this anywhere and anytime; in your home, with friends and even with people who are exploring faith
Our goal is to allow people to discover for themselves through discussion, rather than relying on a leader to teach them. Each gathering should have a facilitator for questions, discussion and prayer. Smaller groups of two to four are ideal.
Three simple steps:
A. Ask
Ask each person how they went with the previous week’s commitment.
“How did you go with _________?”
“Who did you tell?”
B. Bible
Choose a short passage from the Bible. Ask someone read it aloud, then ask someone else to read it again in another translation.
Spend some minutes silently reading the passage again. Silently pray for God to speak directly from the passage.
Ask open-ended questions, such as:
“What stands out to you?”
“What does this say about God?”
“What does this say about us?”
“What is God saying to you?”
If the session gets off track ask, “Where do you see that in the Bible?”
C. Commit
Let people suggest their own commitment to whatever God is saying to them.
Ask them:
“What are you going to do?”
“Who are you going to tell?”
What If I Have an Important Question?
If you get stuck, just keep moving on. You can submit any important questions here.
What Should I Read?
You can read any part of the Bible and you could read 3-5 verses or 5-20 verses or even more. It depends on the time you have and who you are reading with.
Suggested Bible Passages
We have made a list of Bible passages about Jesus that you could use as a guide.